Makhna, Kabini -
Because he wanted a new set of teeth. Because he was a Makhna, and didn’t have those gleaming dental showpieces that his more favoured cousin, the Tusker, flaunted with such panache. And, living as he did, in a biosphere with the largest concentration of Asiatic elephants in the world, the comparisons loomed large and with irritating regularity. Especially galling was the fact that Makhnas like him were in a minority, and wherever you looked, the eye beheld Tuskers sauntering along, swinging those curved ivory scimitars. Our Makhna knew he was bigger. He was stronger. He had a much larger skull. He even had a more muscular trunk and could use it to lift heavier weights and show off to the girls. Perhaps even uproot an entire Flame of the Forest tree in full bloom and go courting his current flame. But then, he couldn’t flash those shiny incisors at will. Perhaps that’s what made him a touch grumpy at times. Or, perhaps, it was just all those silly elephant jokes.
Photograph: Jayanth Sharma Story: Rajesh Ramaswamy
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